Art, design and politics meet in Joanna Rytel's jewellery collection "Happy abortion-children". Her earrings, brooches, necklaces and rings formed as aborted foetuses, takes a stand for abortion. The idea can be said to be a continuation of her project "Abortkyrkogard.se" on the internet. There many have told of the guilt they have felt after having an abortion. "I wondered about why this was and I believe that it is society that induces the guilt, particularly for girls. I want to do something about it."

Art meets politics indeed. Society's fault for the guilt? In some case I guess, but surely guilt would be a rather expected emotion regardless of all else? The referenced website doesn't exist, but abortkyrkogard.com does (abort kyrkogård means, literally, abortion cemetery). It has minimal text but is described as

A place for a farewell from a mother/father who couldn't be that right now...

There are farewells from various people, many obviously guilty and outright regretfull. The tone of most doesn't suggest a problem with society. One reads "you would have been welcome, and I would have tried to be the worlds best father". Somehow, I don't think this jewellery is going to make these people feel a whole lot better.

Joanna Rytel has herself had an abortion, but felt no guilt. "Despite that it is a little sad to have an abortion. But one does it for the child's sake. It would not have been good to have a child half-heartedly. They have it much better in heaven than if they hade been born. I thought that it would be good to make jewellery, because then people can carry their happy abortion-children with them," she says.

Oh dear. I think even for most people who support abortion would have trouble with transferring the benefits of the action to the foetus. For one thing it goes beyond the "where does life begin" debate and acknowledges outright that it is a child and then attempts weak justifications for killing the child. I'd say here that I wouldn't attempt to define the boundary of life but predicate any abortions on other matters. It is certainly more than distasteful to invoke the image of happy abortion kids living in heaven, with mother wearing some tacky jewellery to "carry the child with her".

Is the woman serious or not? I don't know, it could of course be nothing more than an "artistic" poke at society to gain a few minutes of attention using the guilt and regret of others. Then again she might be seriously messed up.

Oh there is a picture of the jewellery as well, which looks plain creepy. Her t-shirt reads "I have also had an abortion".

Well I mean it isn't every day a woman gets to kill her child is it? she should have something to celebrate the great event. Why not gold plate the skull and use it as an an ashtray or as an aornament? Such sensitivie caring folks.

"For one thing it goes beyond the "where does life begin" debate and acknowledges outright that it is a child...."

I don't think so. The mere use of the word 'child' isn't enough to prove that she thinks of the fetus as a person. It could just be a convention of language, y'know?

As for the necklace: at first glance a little odd, perhaps, but mourning what could've been really isn't such an odd reaction, nor is it unique to this woman. In Japan, for example, there's a pretty developed set of rituals and beliefs re: the aborted (or "water children", the literal translation).

War is an ugly thing - but not the ugliest of things. The decaying and degrading state of moral and patriotic feeling that thinks nothing is worse than war, is worse. A man who has nothing he cares about more than he cares about his personal safety, is a miserable creature who has no chance of being free unless made so and kept so by the exceptions of better men than himself. - John Stuart Mill

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The choice of Swedish chefs. There is a lot of crazy stuff written in this world, some of it is even in Swedish. Here we have some news from Sweden, some from New Zealand, and some occasionally from elsewhere that grabs my interest.

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